Well what a diverse and entertaining evening. As my first
introduction to SFB I cant think of a better way to have
been baptized.

The first piece, Quartette was a pleasant introduction
to the evening showing off the technical abilities of Katita
Waldo, Lorena Feijoo, Kristin Long and Vanessa Zahorian. I was
impressed by the musicality and also speed of these four dancers
particularly during their solos. Well-coloured flowing costumes
enhanced the clean lines of the dancers and the colour-matching
of the lighting design on the cyclorama was very pleasing on
the eye to me.

For me, the evening really got under way with Christopher
Wheeldons Sea Pictures. An extremely evocative piece
I was impressed by the momentum and fluidity of the partnering
work with very imaginative and cleanly executed lifts. The company
not only put across the multi-faceted movements of the sea extremely
effectively but also presented a very clear narrative. The backstage
technical departments I felt played a great part in enhancing
the dancers' and choreographers achievements with this work 
the beautiful still photographic projections evoking the sea,
its beauty, its power and its ultimate devastation. I also thought
the use of colour in this piece was very effective, the muted
greys and sands of both costumes and projections intrinsically
linking the performers and the backdrop and their inevitable
culmination.

Joanna Berman is a lovely dancer, with wonderful technical
ability, presence and emotion but with a lovely understated quality
that worked very well for her role in this piece. Sea Pictures
is a collaboration of song, dance and backstage elements working
beautifully together and really I feel needs several viewings
to completely appreciate how effectively are all working together.

After the interval we moved onto George Balanchines
Bugaku. What a delight Lucia Lucarra is. What precision,
what flexibility and what emotion. Lucarra has all of these in
abundance and this role certainly highlighted all of these areas.
Once on stage it was hard to look at anyone else, although the
corps in their flowing white trains produced one
of the most effective visual pictures of the evening.

The passion and emotion oozed from the stage during Laccarra
and Legates pas de deux. What a role for me to see Lacarra
in for the first time.

The final piece of the evening was Jerome Robbins Glass
Pieces. Although I was very impressed with this work there
was something that didnt quite ignite for me to leave me
with the same excitement that I felt for Bugaku and Sea
Pictures, which is a pity as I am sure this piece had the
potential to do this. I very much enjoyed the exuberance of the
male ensemble in Rubric and this made a refreshing contrast to
what had been up to now the ladies of the companys evening.
The pattern-forming and precision of lines, and of entrances
and exits, was also very effective. And a mention should be made
to lighting which I felt was first class all evening, particularly
in this piece in which the contrast between a silhouette state
to the bright starkness at the beginning and end of the piece
was very effective.

This I feel was an excellent and varied programme, and a wonderful
introduction to SFBs repertoire.

In Programme 1 it
was the boys who made the biggest impression on me, but tonight
it was the turn of the girls. Unfortunately it was a thin house
 maybe 60% full  and the acoustic had an echo that
I hadn't heard in the ROH before.

Quartette by Helgi Tomasson struck me as a charming,
if slight, showcase for the four girls. Katita Waldo impressed
with her control of changes of pace in Variation 1 and Loreno
Feijoo brought great flair to Variation 2. Vanessa Zahorian danced
the folk dance elements of Variation 4 with natural grace.

Christopher Wheeldon's Sea Pictures generated much
emotion and the choreography held my attention. Julie Diana was
dreamy as the loving second lead. Joanna Berman and Yuri Possokhov
were a delight in the pas de deux. In her unflashy, but expressive
style Berman was particularly impressive. The final section,
after Possokhov is reported as drowned, seemed to lose its way.
Despite Berman's efforts, Wheeldon's steps did not seem to generate
much sense of grief and the work ended on a flat note.

I can see why Balanchine's Bugaku is a controversial
work that could look like nothing at all. But we had Lucia Lacarra
and I don't think I have seen another work by this strong ensemble
company where one dancer has dominated the proceedings so completely.
Lacarra was mesmerising in her precision and in the small, expressive
movements of her hands, arms and head. The audience were very
impressed and I don't think I will ever forget it.

Jerome Robbins' Glass Pieces is fascinating as the
first dance work to minimalist music and the precursor to fine
dances by Anna Teresa de Keersmaeker and others. The audience
loved the dynamism of the final section and the slow central
pas de deux with the wonderful Yuan Yuan Tan and the mighty Cyril
Pierre. It never quite ignited for me, perhaps because the playing
sounded a little mushy in this work which demands great clarity
to bring out the dancey quality.

Overall another evening of fine, adventurous dance. Come on
London, TV's not that good at the moment!

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special section, San
Francisco Ballet in London,
for reviews, interviews and more previews related to San Francisco's
Summer 2001 tour to London.